| The third marathon stage in the Balkan Offroad Rallye with almost 500 km in total and 318km special stage has left its mark on the ranking. Going from Dyuni to Shkorpilovtsi, the competitors spend their day crossing mountain range after mountain range, with beautiful scenery and fantastic driving on the tracks through the forests and the fields.
Lea Gauthier wins the SSV class today, making a big jump in the overal ranking with her Yamaha. Racing with an unexperienced co-driver, Corinne Clergeat, mean the first day were a steep learning curve for the young team. Lea and Corinne do not lack the competitive spirit. and todays win is the result of smart and careful racing.
In a way it is the ‘marathon’ at work, the old saying that to finish first, you first have to finish. All the front runners in the Side by Side class lost time, had severe damage to the vehicle or simply bad luck. Tsanko Tsanov, Jerome Pelichet, Richard Oguez.. all their ‘bad day’ today.
On the motorbike Arnuas Gelazninkas, Frank Modl and Aidas Bubinas take the lead. Dirk Schuttel had technical problems: the wire to the spark-plug came loose and the lost about 15 minutes to find is. ‘We are still racing together,’ he says, as he competes together with his son. ‘He has the speed and enthusiasm, I have the experience. It is a good combination, we are not too fast, and certainly not too slow.’
In the car ranking, Doncho Tsanev makes the best time today, ahead of Adam Bomba and Desislav Slavchev. Adam Bomba enjoys the fantastic acceleration of his vehicle, and has learnt to safe his tyres on the rocky Bulgarian tracks. Desislav is only careful. ‘We safe the car today, honestly we go slower than we want,’ Desislav says.
Patrycja Brochocka is racing her pink Duster in the Car Limited class. ‘After two mistakes, I have now about 3 hours to the number two in the class. But if I can make mistakes, they can too!’ And as the French Ryo-team and Sebastian Morisod battle for every second and every minute, they also ask the maximum from the car and all its components.
For the Duster team the Balkan Offroad Rallye is a success. ‘It makes me tired in a whole new way,’ says Patrycja. ‘It is a good feeling. I have only just started, it is my first marathon rally and I still have a lot to learn about driving, about speed etc. Actually I am quite careful, and not so fast at all!’
The Volkswagen T4 Syncro team with Udo Heidenreich is still in the race. Three T4’s with only a good bash-plate and a roll-cage started on the stage in Borovets, and arrive every night in the bivouac. ‘It is a completely new way of racing for me,’ says Udo. ’Not for the win, but for the fun!’
Philippe Musy races in the truck category with his Unimog. ‘I love these vehicles,’ he says. ‘And this one is pretty standard, as I did not have time to make a lot of changes to it. Just a strong engine, long wheelbase and a few extra dieseltanks, thats it!’ Anyone can race here, he says. All it takes is a timely arrival at the startline!
Tomorrow on the seventh day of the Balkan Offroad Rallye 200km special stage awaits the competitors, who go deep into Bulgaria again and finish the day with a stage through a magical landscape with rocks, waterfalls and hills!
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DAY 6 – BALKAN EXTREME: Almost 240 km of special stage
The Balkan Extreme has never been so tough as it is this year, with long days, lots of kilometers and challenging terrain. ‘You need to be able to do everything,’ says Christophe Moine, who is third, behind Jim Marsden and Franck and Francoise.
238 KM of true off-road driving today, crossing rivers, canyons and gulleys in an incredible landscape. Passing ancient rock formations, eroded by the wind and water, enjoying panorama’s that span from the mountains to the Black Sea..
Jim Marsden rules the Balkan Extreme, with his 700HP off-road monster and a clever approach to each and every obstacle. Frank Daurelle brings decades of off-road experience to the table, but the difference in the vehicles is big.
‘From Franck to us there is another big difference,’ says Christophe Moine, who is racing his beautiful Defender proto with Volvo portals and a lovely classic 200TDI engine. ‘Perhaps we have 150 horsepower,’ says Christophe with a smile.
He has been racing since the first time in 2011, and fell in love with the country. ‘It is such a special place for competition,’ he says, ‘Bulgaria has everything, and the routes a beautiful. Every year it has become more difficult to reach the finishline, and we have grown with the event.’
‘In the Balkan Extreme you have to do everything: trophy, navigation, technical driving, speed! Some people think it is only for fast cars and big budgets, but most competitors in the Balkan Extreme come with a group of friends and enjoy the ambiance in the bivouac together.’
’Today we drove through a riverbed with big stones, climbed a huge amount of hills and we even stopped to enjoy the view. There were mushroom shaped stones like in the desert, somewhere deep in the mountains. At the end there was a tough swamp, which swallowed the entire car!’
Tomorrow the Balkan Extreme continues with a loop of 137km through the delta south of Shkorpilovtsi. Rocks, hard tracks, fieldroads and lots and lots of deep forest! All the competitors in the Balkan Extreme have dug in for the endgame: as anything can happen in the last days!
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Text: Niels Hatzmann
Photo credit: RBI Media and Dutch Rally Press |
